‘American Horror Story’ Season 2 Brings Back Frances Conroy

There will be another familiar face inhabiting the Asylum this year in American Horror Story season 2, as series creator Ryan Murphy has announced via Twitter that returning cast member Frances Conroy will be back for a second round on the Emmy-nominated series.

American Horror Story fans will remember Conroy as the ill-fated Harmon family phantasmal housekeeper, Moira O’Hara, in season 1. However, in season 2, the Asylum will find Conroy playing a new character, which has been elevated to potentially holier levels.

The second installment of the FX series, dubbed ‘Asylum’, will be set in a 1970s mental institution called Briarcliff Manor, run by a less-than-holy nun named Sister Jude (Jessica Lange). Sister Jude comes into conflict with a progressive young psychiatrist named Dr. Thredson (Zachary Quinto), whose philosophies conflict with her old-school treatments. Actor James Cromwell will play Dr. Arden (a possible Nazi) who uses the patients as his own never-ending supply of test subjects for his ghoulish experiments.

Also occupying the dreaded Briarcliff Manor is Kit (Evan Peters), an inmate who’s accused of murdering his wife, Alma. Kit is a firm believer in extraterrestrials and will be a special project for Sister Jude’s unorthodox punishments. Lily Rabe will play Sister Eunice, Sister Jude’s second-in-command. It is currently unknown if she will be just as insidious as Jude, thought it’s highly likely.

American Horror Story: Asylum cast (click to enlarge)

Other new cast members set to appear in American Horror Story season 2 are Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine, who will play Leo, a “contemporary character and half of a couple known only as ‘The Lovers.” Dancer-turned-actress Jenna Dewan will play Leo’s wife, Teresa, who according to Levine experiences a very “gory” honeymoon. Rounding out the new cast is French actress Lizzie Brocheré, who will play a wild and dangerous sexpot. Joseph Fiennes also joins the main cast as Monsignor Timothy O’Hara, a possible love interest for Sister Jude. Finally, Chris Zylka (The Secret Circle) will play Daniel, a man who is plugged as “the most beautiful boy in the world and a deaf mute.”

FX has also released a torrent of creepy, albeit brief set of new season 2 trailers – here’s the latest in the bizarre collection that will make you thankful to be moderately sane: